With Orange County's 10th annual Race for the Cure just a week away --
it'll be held Sunday, Sept. 23, at Fashion Island -- last-minute
preparations are being made at the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation office in Costa Mesa.
On Thursday, Assistant City Editor James Meier sat down with Aletha
Anderson, now in her second year as the Orange County's race chair, to
discuss her involvement and what it takes to prepare an event that will
bring together more than 25,000 racers.
Q: This is your second year as chair of the race in Orange County.
Where did you do it before?
A: In 1992, which was the first race in Orange County, I had a small
part on the committee and then we moved away and lived in Colorado for
five years. And I became very involved with the race committee in
Colorado Springs. And I chaired it there and co-chaired it there. So when
I moved back here, I called them up and told them "I know a lot about the
Komen Foundation and this event, what can I do?" So I ended up chairing
it as soon as I moved back.
Q: How did you get involved in the event initially?
A: I knew someone . . . who was one of the founding chairs who brought
it here and she invited someone she knew to an organizing meeting. There
was a woman there who had breast cancer who spoke about it and said "OK,
before everyone leaves, you're all going to sign up to be on a committee,
and we all did.
Seeing the event, it's just a positive, upbeat event that it's just
great to be involved with. When I was in Colorado Springs, they were just
bringing the event in and it was really fabulous to be involved with
something new and seeing it grow. That was really, really rewarding.
Q: Is that what has kept you in it?
A: I think so much of the Komen foundation and how the Komen
foundation is run both in Dallas and here in Orange County. It's very
volunteer-driven. It's just overwhelming -- the volunteers you meet and
what they're willing to do for the cause. It's just so needed. The women
you meet who are breast cancer survivors and the stories you hear really
move you.
As the race chair, I'm also on the board here, and you see the need in
the grant requests and to know how much the money is really needed and
put to good use here keeps you going. It just makes you want to raise
more money because you know it's needed to help women and their families
here in Orange County.
Q: Is each race still as emotional as it was for you at the beginning?
A: It really is. Last year at the race, we had a parade for the first
